Simone Holcomb

Simone Holcomb is an American soldier serving in the Colorado National Guard as a medic. She received media attention in 2003 when she went AWOL in order to maintain custody of two children her husband had from a previous marriage.
Holcomb had been deployed to Iraq with her husband Vaughn Holcomb. The two had seven children ranging from 4 to 12 years old, five of which were from a prior relationship Holcomb had and two of which were from Vaughn's previous marriage. The Holcombs left their children in the care of Vaughn's mother until one or both of the Holcombs could return and resume care. In 2003 Vaughn's ex-wife filed for custody for the two children from their previous marriage, making it necessary for the Holcombs to return home to settle the custody dispute, for which they were given compassionate leave. The Colorado courts decided that either Holcomb or her husband would have to remain in the United States to retain custody of the children or Vaughn's ex-wife would be granted full custody.
After the media picked up on the story, Holcomb was reassigned to Fort Carson. Her assignment was backdated to October 10, 2003 with the intention that it would remove the AWOL charges. At the same time Holcomb was also informed that she could still face a court-martial, as her former commander was seeking further administrative punishment.

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